The Business from Scratch

Richard Branson has once said, "A big business starts small." Great ventures start from tiny beginnings, including your small business. A startup is a young company founded by one or more entrepreneurs with the aim of developing a unique product or service for the market. By its nature, Start-up typically tends to be a shoestring operation with initial funding from the founders or their family/friends. Startups have no history and are obviously perceived to be risky. So, the first challenge for any start-up is to prove its validity of the concept to potential lenders and investors. More than 40% of the start-ups fail just because of running out of the fund. And people who choose to work for start-ups are considered to have a higher threshold for internal chaos.

Nepali start-up scene is still at a nascent stage. Nepal has many diverse sectors where start-ups can flourish, there is a good potential but "Can it be the next growth Engine for Nepal's economy?"

The start-up ecosystem in Nepali scenario is taking hold and slowly expanding. Nepal lies between two fastest-growing economies, India and China. The huge advantage to Nepali start-ups, according to the investors are:

• Low cost and non-hostile workforce
• Small and accessible bureaucracy 
• A huge pool of unemployed human resources

Despite these, some of the obstacles to every start-up are:

• Fierce competition
• Winning trust of customers
• Financial management
• Hiring a suitable candidate’s
• Cybersecurity 

Nepal is still on the learning and exploring phase. According to some of the rising Nepali entrepreneurs, the initial step of starting a business is to have a clear business plan. Similarly, if you plan to start a new business, the following are the must:

• Investing huge time for the research of the market as well as target
• Detailed business plan 
• Motivated team 
• Financial plans and alternatives 
• Mentors 
• Legal clarity and cybersecurity 
• Realistic goals and strategies

Some of the successful start-up businesses are Microsoft, Ford Motors, Mc McDonalds, etc. In the context of Nepal, some of the popular and successful start-up businesses are Sastodeal.com, Ludo Neo-Classic, merojob.com, Cloud factory, Foodmandu, etc.

Recently, Helmets Nepal has been one of the rising start-up business in the context of Nepal, which is managed and run by a young and motivated entrepreneur Ms Prarathana Saakha and her enthusiastic team.

Nepal has got too much crisis everywhere. Remember crisis is an entrepreneurial opportunity. Start-ups are always risky but, if you keep taking calculated risks, you'll keep getting considerable rewards. " “Starting your own business is like riding a coaster, "Lindsay Manseau says. There are lows and highs and every turn you take is a different twist. The lows are really low but the highs can be very high. You have to be strong, stay tight in your stomach and ride along with your starting roller coaster!